The Ground Game

The tension is mounting. What the next week and a half will be like is like is the two-minute warning of a tie-score Super Bowl. I can't wait for the election to be over. I feel like my whole body is reacting to the stress level. The thought that the Bush/Cheney neocons will somehow prevail fills me with a dread I can't quite comprehend. I don't think we'll move to Canada if that happens, life will somehow go on, but I think we'll be much less safe, and the planet's health will be far more endangered, and the economy will be finally flushed down the toilet.

So here we are, facing perhaps the clearest choice in a generation, and the band plays on. At the end of every Al Franken Show on Air America Radio, Al has been delivering what essentially amounts to his stump speech/halftime pep talk, with an increasingly feverish pitch:

"...the fact of the matter is it will all come down to the ground game and who wants it more...You know, Paul Wellstone said the future belongs to those who are passionate and who work hard. I am asking you to be passionate and work hard..."

Every time I hear him, his voice is more urgent than the last time. It makes me wonder if I'm doing enough in service of my country. Nonetheless, there are some basically good signs:

• Due to Kerry's clear debate victories, the polls have tightened, and depending on which one you read, they can give us hope.
  
• There is an unprecedented amount of new voter registration. This usually means people hunger for a change. Also, these new voters aren't showing up in the polls, as pollsters are prohibited from calling people on cell phones.
  
• The forces in power are trying very hard to inhibit voting, as high voter turnout also favors Democrats. I think they're scared!
  
• Time after time, we see George W. Bush speaking in front of a hand-picked, vetted crowd, while we see huge, enthusiastic crowds embrace Kerry and Edwards. Freedom is on the march indeed! I don't think this is what W had in mind though.
  

We will certainly be living in a different world on November 3rd. I doubt the entrenched interests that benefit from the Electoral College will ever give up power, and let us truly achieve a "one person, one vote" democracy. I was reading the transcript of a recent interview with noted dissident Noam Chomsky, and he thinks we come up miserably short of other countries, such as Brazil, as far as true democracy goes.

I hope Kerry can pull this off, because I don't think I can forgive myself if he doesn't win. Did I do enough?

Until then, Hope Springs Eternal!